Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
16-5,6-2Big 12
UCF
17-4,6-3Big 12
UCF tops No. 11 Tech in Orlando
January 31, 2026 | Men's Basketball
ORLANDO, Florida – No. 11 Texas Tech had its five-game winning streak snapped with an 88-80 loss against UCF on Saturday at Addition Financial Arena and will now return home to host No. 14 Kansas at 8 p.m. on Monday at United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (16-5, 6-2 Big 12) trailed 44-40 at halftime and were down only 81-79 after a JT Toppin runner under two minutes before the Knights (17-4, 6-3 Big 12) closed out the game with a 7-1 run. Thomas Burks turned a turnover back into a four-point lead with 1:27 remaining and a fastbreak dunk by Chris Johnson after a missed Tech 3-pointer gave the Knights an 85-79 lead with less than 30 seconds remaining. The loss was Tech's against an unranked opponent since a defeat at TCU last season and takes this year's road record to 2-3. The Red Raiders go into their matchup against the Jayhawks with an 11-0 record at home.
Toppin recorded his 14th double-double of the season after leading the Red Raiders with 27 points and 10 rebounds while Christian Anderson had 17 points and nine assists. The Red Raiders finished the game shooting 11-for-29 (37.9%) on 3-pointers with Anderson making three and Donovan Atwell shooting 3-of-6 from deep and having 11 points. LeJuan Watts added nine points while Josiah Moseley led the bench with six points and three rebounds in his second game of the season. Jaylen Petty finished with five points and four assists in a game where Tech had 19 assists on 31 makes.
UCF owned a 35-23 rebounding advantage, made 18-of-22 free throws and had an 18-2 scoring advantage off turnovers. Tech committed 13 turnovers in the and was only 7-of-12 at the free-throw line. Thomas Fulks led the Knights with 21 points and seven assists while Jordan Burks had 17 points after going 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. UCF had two players record double-doubles in the win with John Bol going for 14 points and 10 rebounds while Jamichael Stillwell had 10 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists.
 Tech trailed at halftime for only the fourth time this season after going to the break down 44-40. Atwell led the Red Raiders with 11 points while Anderson had 10 points and five assists and Toppin had eight points and three rebounds. Atwell was 3-for-5 on 3-pointers and Anderson 2-of-5 for the Red Raiders who were 7-for-17 on 3s in the first half. Toppin, who was 4-of-5 from the field in the half, scored the game's first points on Tech's opening possession for a 2-0 lead before UCF went on a 7-0 run that would be stopped with another Toppin basket. Anderson made Tech's first 3-pointer and Bryan made his first to make it an 18-15 deficit. Atwell's second 3-pointer of the half tied the game at 20-all before Watts gave Tech the lead back at 24-22 with an inside basket 11 minutes into the game. Atwell's final 3 of the half cut a UCF lead to 43-42 with a minute remaining. UCF went into the break with a 16-9 rebounding advantage, a 24-12 scoring advantage in the paint, were up 9-2 on points off turnovers and was 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. Both teams were shooting over 50% but UCF had three fewer 3s. Burks led UCF with 11 point at halftime while Bol and Fulks had eight each.
Texas Tech has matched its 6-2 to start Big 12 play from last season through eight conference games. Last season, the team extended its record to 9-2 through 11 games and finished second in the conference with a 15-5 record. Â
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